Carrying-type scraper with horizontally movable apron



Oct. 28, 1969 w. R. FRANK 3,474,550

CARRYING-TYPE ECRAPER WITH HORIZONTALLY MOVABLE APRON Filed Dec. 27, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I N VEVTOR WILLIAM R. FRANK ATTORNEY Oct. 28, 1969 w. R. FRANK v n'z'ING-TYPE SCRAPSR WITH HORIZONTALLY MOVABLE APRON 5 sheets-sheet 2 Filed Dec.

I N VENTOR.

WILLIAM R. FRANK ATTORNEY Oct. 28, 1969 w. R. FRANK I :ARRYING-IYPE SCRAPER WITH HORIZONTALLY MOVABLE APRON Filed Dec. 27, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet Z INVENTOR. WILLIAM R., FRANK ATTORNEY United States Patent U.S. Cl. 37129 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A carrying-type scraper having a bowl with front, rear and side walls, and an apron interconnected with the bowl and movable below the front wall from a rear position in which the rear edge of the apron is in contact with the blade to a forward position.

In prior art carrying-type scrapers a blade is mounted to the rear of an opening to a bowl that is carried by a supporting frame, the blade cutting the earth and causing it to be loaded into the bowl as the scraper is propelled forwardly with the blade in contact with the ground. There are two general types of carrying-type scrapers. In one type the blade has been movable relative to the supporting frame. The blade could be either carried on the forward edge of the rotatable bowl in the manner shown in U.S. Patents 2,052,182 and 2,064,023, or the blade could be carried by the forward edge of a floor which is movable relative to the fixed rear and side walls of the bowl as shown, for example, in US, Patent 2,101,- 400. In the other type the blade is fixed relative to the carrying frame. There are two types of fixed blade constructions well known in the art, one being where the blade is on a floor to the front of the sides of a bowl, representative U.S. Patents being 2,179,532 and 2,273,- 010, and another being where the blade is carried by the rear wall, representative U.S. Patents being 2,078,500 and 2,224,438. In the form of scraper where a fixed blade is carried by the rear wall of a bowl it has been necessary to provide a gate, and, as shown by the previously mentioned patents, the gate has been integral with the side walls.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a scraper having a fixed blade carried by the rear wall in which the gate is separate from the side walls.

More particularly it is an object of this invention to provide a carrying-type scraper having a bowl with front, rear and side walls, and an apron interconnected with the bowl and movable below the front wall from a rear position in which the rear edge of the apron is in contact with the blade to a forward position.

Another object of this invention is to provide a carrying-type scraper having a bowl with front, rear and side walls, and an apron movable between a rear closed position and a forward open position, the apron being carried by parallel links and having an upper curved surface that is normally closely disposed to the lower edge of the forward wall.

Another object of this invention is to provide a carrying-type scraper having a bowl with an apron movable between a rear closed position and a forward open position, the apron being carried by parallel links which are actuated by a double-acting hydraulic cylinder acting through resilient means to move the parallel links.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which the preferred form of this invention is illustrated.

3,474,550 Patented Oct. 28, 1969 FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the scraper of this invention taken from the rear of the scraper.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the scraper of this invention, a portion being broken away to more clearly illustrate the manner in which the apron is carried.

FIG. 2a is a slightly modified view of the structure shown in FIG. 2 in which resilient means have been added to prevent undue stresses upon the apron structure, or other related structure, if an object should become caught between the apron and the cutting blade during closing of the apron.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the structure shown in FIG. 2, some parts being omitted for clarity.

In the following description right-hand and left-hand reference is determined by standing to the rear of the scraper and facing the direction of travel.

The carrying-type scraper of this invention has a relatively rigid frame which includes a longitudinally extending hitch tongue 10 and a bowl, indicated generally at 12. The bowl includes a front wall 14, a rear wall 16, and right and left side walls 18 and 20. The walls 14, 16, '18 and 20 are rigidly interconnected, as by welding, and the rear wall 16 is provided with a cut-out portion through which the rear end of the longitudinally extending hitch tongue 10 passes, the tongue being secured to the rear wall by welding. As can best be seen from FIG. 3, the upper surface 22 of the tongue 10 is disposed closely adjacent the upper surface 24 of the rear wall 16. An intermediate portion of the tongue 10 is disposed above the upper surface 26 of the front wall and is interconnected to the front wall by means of a right gusset block 28 and a left mounting block 30, the block 30 in turn being secured to one side of a mounting arm 32, the other side of the mounting arm 32 being welded to a gusset block 34 which in turn is welded to the top surface 26 of the front wall 14.

Right and left wheels 36 and 38 are mounted on the structure 10, 12 for generally vertical movement. The wheels are carried on a generally transversely extending axle 40, the axle being mounted for swinging movement on the rear wall 16 by means of arms 42 which are pivotally secured to rearwardly extending brackets 44. An extensible and retractable hydraulic cylinder 46 is mounted with the anchor end secured to a mounting lug 48 rigidly secured to the rear end of the hitch tongue 10, the other end being interconnected with an intermediate portion of one of the arms 42. The cylinder 46 receives fluid under pressure from a tractor (represented by the drawbar 49) through fluid lines 50, 52.

A cutting blade 54 is secured to the lower edge of the rear wall 16 by means of plow bolts 56.

An apron, indicated generally at 58, and having an upper curved surface 60, is mounted on the structure 10, 12 for movement between a rear closed position where its rear edge 62 is in contact with the cutting blade 54 to a forward open position shown in FIG. 2. The apron is mounted for movement on front and rear generally parallel arms 64, 66, respectively. The rear arms 66 are interconnected by means of a shaft 68, the shaft being secured to the right and left side walls 18 and 20 by means of stub shafts 70 which are disposed within the ends of the hollow shaft 68, the stub shafts 70 being secured to the walls 18 and 20 by means of fasteners 72. The lower ends of the arms 66 are pivotally secured to the rear edge 58 of the apron 54 by means of transversely extending pins 73 which are received between upstanding lugs 74 on the rear edge 62.

The front arm 64 is interconnected with the apron 58 by means of a pair of forwardly extending arms 75 rigidly secured to the forward edge of the apron 58 and a pin 76 disposed within apertures on the forward ends of the arms 75 and a corresponding aperture 78 on the lower end of the arm 64. An intermediate portion of the arm 64 carries a transversely extending sleeve 81 which is mounted for rotation about a transversely extending pin 80, one end of the pin being received within an aperture 82 on the mounting arm 32, and the other end of the pin 80 being carried by a bolt 84 which extends between upstanding lugs 86 on an intermediate portion of the hitch tongue 10.

An extensible and retractable hydraulic cylinder 88 is mounted on the structure 10, 12, the anchor end of the cylinder 88 being secured to a mounting arm 90 rigidly secured on the rear end of the hitch tongue 10, the rod end of the cylinder 88 being pivotally interconnected with the upper end of the front arm 64. As is conventional, the cylinder 88 receives fluid under pressure from atractor through hydraulic lines 92, 94.

To operate the carrying-type scraper of this invention, it is only necessary to connect the clevis 96 on the forward end of the tongue to the tractor drawbar 49 and also to connect the forward ends of the hose lines 50, 52, 92, and 94 to the remote outlets on a tractor. To load the bowl 12 of the scraper, the cylinders 46, 88 are retracted. The depth of cut is gauged by the position of the wheels relative to the bowl 12. When the bowl is filled, the apron is closed by extending the cylinder 88 and the bowl is raised by extending cylinder 46. The upper surface 56 of the apron is curved to insure its close contact with the lower edge of the front wall 14. Thus when dumping, which is accomplished by retracting the cylinder 88 when the bowl is in its raised position, the front wall will clean the dirt off the upper surface of the apron.

In the modification shown in FIG. 2a spring means formed from a plurality of Belleville washers or conical disks 100 have been interposed between the anchor end 88a of the cylinder 88 and an upwardly extending mounting arm 102. The mounting arm 102 is rigidly secured to the rear end of the hitch tongue 10 and is provided at its upper end with an integral sleeve portion 104. A rod 106 passes through the sleeve portion '104 and is secured at its forward end to the anchor end 88a of the cylinder 88, the conical disks 100 being disposed about the rod 106. The rear end of the rod 106 is threaded and a pair of locking nuts 108 is disposed on the rear end of the rod. The rod end 88r is secured to the front arm 64.

Should an obstruction be engaged between the cutting blade 54 and the apron 62 during closing the springs 100 will be compressed, preventing undue stresses upon the structure.

While the preferred structure in which the principles of the present invention have been incorporated is shown and described above, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the particular details, shown and described above, but that, in fact, Widely different means may be employed in the practice of the broader aspects of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A carrying-type scraper comprising: a bowl including an upright rear wall having a blade on its lower edge, an upright front wall having a lower horizontal edge,

and a pair of opposed side Walls secured to the ends of the front rear walls; ground-engaging wheel means interconnected With said bowl and movable in respect to the bowl to shift the bowl between a lowered loading position and a raised carrying or dumping position; and a horizontally disposed apron interconnected with said bowl and having an upper surface closely adjacent the lower edge of the front wall, the apron being horizontally shiftable fore-and-aft below said front wall from a rear position in which the rear edge of said apron is in contact with the blade to a forward position in which said rear edge defines an opening with the blade.

2. The carrying-type scraper set forth in claim 1 in which the apron is carried by front and rear generally parallel arms connected at their upper ends to front and rear parts respectively of the bowl and at their lower ends to front and rear portions respectively of the apron.

3. The carrying-type scraper set forth in claim 2 in which the upper surface of the apron is curved.

4. The carrying-type scraper set forth in claim 2 in which a double-acting hydraulic cylinder is interconnected with the apron to move it between forward and rear positions, said cylinder being mounted on said bowl for yieldable axial shifting.

5. The carrying-type scraper set forth in claim 1 further characterized by the provision of a longitudinally extending hitch tongue, the rear end of said tongue being rigidly secured to the rear wall, and an intermediate portion of the tongue being rigidly secured to the front wall.

6. The carrying-type scraper set forth in claim 1 in which a rockshaft is rotatably mounted adjacent the upper edge of the rear wall, the rockshaft having depending rock arms pivotally secured at their lower ends to the rear edge of said apron.

7. The carrying-type scraper set forth in claim 6 in which further rock arm means are provided, said rock arm means being pivotally interconnected at one end with the forward edge of the apron forwardly of said front wall, an intermediate portion of said arm means being pivotally interconnected with the upper edge of the front wall.

8. The carrying-type scraper set forth in claim 7 further characterized by the provision of extensible and retractable power means, one end of which is pivotally mounted on the bowl, and the other end of which is pivotally interconnected with the upper end of said further rock arms means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,251,338 8/1941 McCollum 37-126 2,528,741 11/1950 Clark 37-129 2,562,193 7/1951 Johnson 37129 3,200,520 8/ 1965 Nichols 37-429 EDGAR S. BURR, Primary Examiner US. 01. X.R. 37-1115, 

